Due to the numerous TV and film adaptations of this classic tale of buccaneers and buried treasure, many people will be familiar with this adventure story. I certainly was, but have never actually read it, so when I spotted a freebie audio version a few months ago, I couldn't resist. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson begins in a nondescript public house run by Mr and Mrs Hawkins. They are just about scraping a living together in this quiet West Country backwater when their lives are rudely interrupted by the arrival of a loud and paranoid seafarer ... who turns out to be a pirate on the run from his former crew mates. Much rum is imbibed and endless verses of Yo Ho Ho And a Bottle of Rum are sung, but in quiet times, the rough and ready pirate engages young Jim Hawkins as a kind of lookout. However, following the death of Mr Hawkins, lookout duties are forgotten, and the grim Blind Pugh turns up and delivers the dreaded Black Spot to the resident pirate, sending him into a tail spin, which leads to his sudden death. Before Pugh and his rabble return, Jim finds a treasure map amongst the pirate's belongings and he and his mother flee. When the local Doctor and Squire see the map, a plan is hatched to go on a treasure hunt, and Jim gets to go too. Unfortunately, the Squire does not chose his crew wisely and ends up recruiting Long John Silver and his cohorts who were part of the crew looking for the map. Now the adventure really kicks off with a long sea journey ending up at Treasure Island. Jim overhears talk of mutiny, and those loyal to the Squire club together to try to save themselves ... but what will become of the treasure, and is there someone already on the supposedly deserted island? This is a real adventure and there is plenty of action, with Jim getting into all sorts of scrapes. There are two stand out characters, Jim and Long John Silver, the latter being particularly engaging as he veers from kindness to viciousness, and cunning to treachery with alarming speed ... and don't mess with the parrot! The audio version, narrated by David Buck, worked well for me, as what could have become a bit too stagy was dealt with in a largely understated manner. Overall, an enjoyable (but not exceptional) time was had by all ... except for the pirates! It buckles the swashes and shivers the timbers in fine, if a little dated, style.
My STAR rating: THREE.
Length:122 print pages.
Price I paid: FREE.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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